Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco expressed sharp disappointment over the firing of his position coach, Jim Zorn, and labeled the move an "attack" on him after his solid 2010 performance.
"I also feel like a little bit like I'm being attacked," Flacco told the *Carroll County Times* on Saturday. "You fire the quarterback coach. Usually when your fire a position coach, it's because you're not really happy with how that position did. And when I look back on my season and our season as a team, I mean, we won 13 games. I felt like I had a pretty good year and you're firing the quarterback coach? It's kind of an attack on me, I feel like."
Flacco threw for 3,622 yards and 26 touchdowns with 10 interceptions -- good enough for a career-best 93.6 passer rating that ranked seventh in the NFL -- in 16 regular-season starts for the Ravens.
"I'm not happy about it," Flacco added. "They know that I'm not happy about it. It's not news to them. ... I'm not going to be happy about it, for a long time. This year will be what it is. We're going to be successful this year. I would have just liked him to be a part of it. He would have liked to be a part of it. And I think it would have been good for him to be a part of it."
Zorn was dismissed Thursday after one season in Baltimore. Upon firing Zorn, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said he wanted to expand the role of offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. Flacco understands this but said he would have preferred that Zorn stayed, too.
The Baltimore Sun reported Thursday that Zorn was fired following a seven-hour meeting with Harbaugh and Cameron. The coaches questioned Flacco's development this season, according to the newspaper's source.
Harbaugh on Friday called The Sun's report "inaccurate and unfair to Jim Zorn ... in no way does it describe Jim's relationship with the Ravens, and that includes with his fellow coaches while here and our players.
"Jim's departure from the Ravens will remain as private as these matters can be," Harbaugh told The Sun, "but we feel it's necessary to at least point out that this report is inaccurate. It is not true in any way, shape or form."
According to the Ravens' official website, Cameron and offensive assistant Craig Ver Steeg will handle the duties previously assigned to Zorn.
"I'm disappointed and they know I'm disappointed," Flacco told the Times. "I don't think it was a good decision, and they know that. I expressed that throughout the whole time it was going on, I expressed how much I didn't think it would be good for us. My opinion isn't going to change.
"I think Jim was a great coach, I think he was great for our team. I think he was great for me. That's how I feel about it."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
